The Heart of Everything
by darkazureskies
Summary: Peace is but only a facade to those who believe in it. Our heros fall into this lull, only to be ripped back into reality as old friends and foes alike return and the fate of the worlds hang in the balance. Sometimes the simplest things matter the most...
1. Prologue

The Heart of Everything

Prologue: The Insiders

By: RikuLuvr

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Traverse Town: the epicenter of rest and restocking for worldly travelers. The bustling trading town has seen its share of travelers, from wooden youngsters to dark entities, so when a pair of worse-for-wear travelers walked in through the large, oak doors leading from the ship yard, not a single eyelash was batted.

The pair was a couple of young men in their mid twenties. The taller of the two had long, cool blue hair that partially fell over his shoulders and spiked off on the top. A 'X' shaped scar sat across his face. He was wearing a long blue coat, a small crescent moon detailed into the left side and at the buttons on the sleeves. His pants were a blue tinted white and he wore navy colored shoes. The other traveler had fiery red hair that shot into the air with gravity-defying ease. He wore a sweatshirt, unzipped, colored red with the sleeves turning black at the elbows. Underneath was an orange tank top and a yellow stripped scarf. His pants were tan in color and his shoes were red and black high-tops.

The red head bee-lined to the café tables, his companion following at a leisurely pace. Green eyes rolled as the taller of the two watched the red head stalk to the furthermost table in the café and sit, turning the chair backwards. The shorter man growled and slammed his chin against the table as he slumped forward.

"Lea…" The red head's companion said, sighing, as he took a seat across from him. "Acting like a child will not make this situation any better."

Lea looked up, his blue tinted green eyes slanted in a glare. "Doesn't mean I can't, Isa. You know how pissed off I am by this." He put out a finger to the flame of the everlasting candles of the table. He pulled off a small part of the flame, dancing it around his fingers. "We finally gain what we desired the most by a mere chance and just when we think life will return to normal, HE just has to show up and take it all away – by force even!"

Isa sat there, letting his friend vent his displeasure. When he was sure that Lea was finished, Isa ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Yes, yes, I know that. But all we can do now is go along with his plans…"

The dancing flame grew as the heat behind Lea's glare intensified. "Go along with it!? Why the hell would we do that?!" By now Lea was standing and the flame had engulfed his hand, threatening to consume the sleeve of his sweatshirt. "You saw what he did to Ienzo, Medy, and Lorud! How can you possibly follow a bastard like that?!"

"Lea, calm down!" Isa started to explain. "You know what I meant. The only way we can survive is to follow his order, unless you WANT to become 'Axel' again…" He sent a look to his friend that said 'You know I'm right'.

Lea's anger was doused by Isa's words as he sat back down and the flame disappeared from the pyro's hand. Isa continued talking when Lea made no move to retort. "We need to do something, though, to deter his and that witch's plans…" he muttered, leaning back in his chair. "What we need are Keybearers…"

Lea's eyes were traveling around the center square when he suddenly stood up, an exclamation of "That's it!" as his justification. Isa sat up, startled, and watched as the red head dashed over to the café owner.

"Miss, do those mailboxes deliver to other worlds?" Lea asked.

The young woman nodded, slightly startled. "That they do, all you need to do is write down the world along with the address. Those mailboxes do the rest." Lea offered a quick "Thanks" and dashed back to the table, picking up his pack and pulling out a pen and paper.

"Lea…." Isa asked warily. "What are you doing?" An eyebrow was raised as emphasis.

A grin was plastered for ear to ear across the red head's face. "Isn't it best to report a notion of rebellion in a country to that country's king?"


	2. Chapter 1

The Heart of Everything

Chapter 1: A Forwarded Note

By: RikuLuvr

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Life on Destiny Islands had returned to the peaceful state that had always engulfed the inhabitants there. It had been weeks since the return of Sora, Riku, and Kairi, the former two having caused an uproar of excitement upon their return. Not one of the islanders remembered the Heartless invasion that occurred just the year before. So the word traveling around was that on the night of the storm, Riku and Sora had been lost to the sea when they went to protect the raft on the island. So when Kairi rowed back to the main island with Sora and Riku, the town was exuberant about their return and erupted in celebrations.

And now that such celebrations had finished, the teens could relax in each other's company. Sora lay sprawled, half asleep, in the sun-baked sands near the Papou tree. Riku sat leaning against the trunk of the tree, his vest having been discarded and soon recruited as the brunet's pillow. The breeze dragged the cool ocean spray over the two teens and rustled the leaves of the palms in a rhythm, seagulls and various tropical birds glided over head, their songs mixing with the rustling.

This is how Kairi found the two of them and hour later. Riku, though, had succumbed to the serene atmosphere of the island and had falling into sleep where he sat. Kairi shook her head, chuckling as she walked over to the islet. Sitting down at the base of the tree, she pulled out her cell phone. After searching through it for a few minutes, Kairi turned the face of her cell towards the sleeping duo and pressed enter. A loud, fast paced song rang out, waking up the pair of slumbering teens. Riku let out a startled yell, tumbling off of the tree next to Kairi. Sora sprung up, and summoned his Kingdom Key upon instinct. But what Sora did not realize was how close he was to the edge of the islet, so when the brunet Keybearer slid into a defensive stance, his back foot slid off the edge and gravity pulled him down.

The Dawn Keybearer and the Princess watched the spot where their friend had fallen, listening to the muttered curses and splashing of water. A few seconds later a gloved hand reached over the edge and dragged the waterlogged teen up. Unfortunately for Sora, he had grabbed hold of Riku's vest, thus making his hand slide when he pulled himself up, causing him to plummet into the ocean below. Riku snorted and Kairi covered her mouth to suppress her laughter. Shaking his head, Riku stood up and walked over towards the edge to help his friend.

Sora suddenly called "Head's up!" as a bottle came soaring up, promptly hitting Riku square on the top of his head. The bottle rolled towards Kairi as the silveret held his head in pain, an anger filled glare shot at the emerging Sora, who smiled meekly. "I said head's up…"

Riku, through grit teeth, growled, "You say that BEFORE you throw it, moron!" The older teen grabbed the younger's hood and dragged him up the rest of the way onto the islet.

"Yeah, sorry… But-!" Sora started to explain when Kairi exclaimed, "It's from the King!" Riku rolled his eyes at Sora and went over to Kairi, who had already taken the note out, while Sora shook the salt water from his locks. She stood so the two could also read it.

Kairi unrolled the letter and began to read it aloud as Sora came over, "Dear Sora, Riku, and Kairi, I recently received a letter from an unknown source that troubles me greatly. It states that Organization XIII has been resurrected with all of the original members. Though, the letter says that they are no longer Nobodies. That troubles me deeply. Donald believes that this letter is just a practical joke and should be taken with a grain of salt. But, even if it is one, I am still worried. I only send this to tell you to take caution, but do not let this damper your lives. If, though, something were to happen, we will contact you three as soon as we can. Yours truly, Mickey."

Riku, his brows furled, snatched the letter from Kairi and reread it. Again, he reread it, a look of total confusion and disbelief painted across his features. Sora muttered under his breath as he ran his hand through his hair, sliding into the sand.

"D-Does this mean everything isn't over?" Kairi inquired, looking to both Sora and Riku, a worried expression on her face.

Riku sighed and sat on the tree trunk, letter still in hand. "Truthfully? I don't believe the fight with the Heartless will ever end, but I had hoped our peace would last a lot longer… But this letter that Mickey mentions…" Riku fell silent, lost in his thoughts.

Sora groaned, "I… think we need to tell the others about the Heartless… incase that letter is legit…" He pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his forehead upon them.

"But, Sora-" Kairi reacted in a shocked and upset voice.

"Kairi, he's right," Riku interjected, jumping down from his perch. "Think about it. If the letter is real, then someone who has great control over darkness is out there, and could easily find our islands and send the Heartless to them. If we don't tell at least Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie, we will probably be the only ones fighting. And, do you think the three of us can fight off the Heartless and protect the islands for any extended length of time?"

Kairi's eyes drooped downward, her body following the motion as she slid down next to Sora. "But… it was so hard to convince our parents about what happened… won't it be the same with them?" The Princess looked between the two Keybearers, fishing for a response.

"Possibly…" Sora finally responded, "But, those three know we couldn't have just disappeared like that, so they probably will be open to any explanation…" He sighed as he stood up, running a hand through his locks.

"I see what you mean, guys…" Kairi pouted, "but I'm still against it." She had crossed her arms as her pout turned her lips into a fine line.

Sora went to say something to her as Riku suddenly snorted out a laugh. Eyebrows were raised as Sora and Kairi glanced towards their elder friend. The silveret had his hand covering his mouth while the other was pointing at Sora's back. Following the angle of Riku's arm, Kairi also let a few giggle escape from her lips. Blue eyes darted back and forth in total confusion between the two and his back. "What?!" Sora moaned as his eyes came to rest on the spot where he had just been sitting, the mashed remains of a Papou fruit formed around the impression of his butt. "Damnit…" he muttered, cross.

Kairi held the back of her hand over her mouth in a desperate attempt to stifle her laughter. Riku shook his head as chuckles left his mouth, watching Sora grab at the fabric of his pants in a vain effort to locate the mess. Riku smirked as he pointed in a random direction, calling out, "Sora look! What's that over there?" To Riku's pleasure, the brunet turned, leaving himself open. Riku pushed Sora off the edge of the islet into the surf below. Turning on his heel, grabbing his vest and throwing it over his shoulder, Riku walked off towards the bridge connecting the islet to the rest of the small island. Completely thrown, Kairi blinked, looking between the spot Sora had fallen off of and Riku's retreating form. Noticing Riku had already reached the other side, she dashed after him, Sora mumbling as he dragged himself out of the water onto the beach.

Sora glared at Riku as he and Kairi exited the hut-encased staircase, snatching the older teen's vest and using it as a towel. Riku glared, an exasperated look on his face. "Would you have had rather been sticky and sandy over waterlogged?" The now soaked vest was thrown at his face in response. Riku grabbed the back of Sora's jacket, dragging him into a headlock. As he dragged him towards the docks, Riku messed with Sora's hair; Kairi following behind, laughing.

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"Have you located them yet?" a figure inquired, voice resounding through the shadows of the room. Golden eyes glanced towards a second figure, who was typing away at the many keys of the computers in front of them. A single eye glanced towards the figure, similar in color. His eyes returned to the screens as he continued to type away at the keyboards, words scrolling in several directions across the monitors. "Not yet, Master. But it shouldn't be all that hard to find such a massive amount of light…" Several windows opened and closed with soft "bing"s. One window stayed open, a large map, as a large circle appeared, accompanied by a constant, low undertone.

A grin formed on the standing figures lips, eyes glowing in the darkness. "It should not be long now… Not long at all…"


End file.
